Salem teens involved in high-speed crash speak out to trauma nurses

Jul 24, 2013

Kelly Owen, RN, a trauma nurse at Salem Hospital, recently contacted the families of four Sprague High School students involved in a single car crash near the campus on May 2.

The driver, Joshua Martinson, 16, lost control of the car while hill jumping. A metal fence post went through his shoulder, but incredibly he survived the crash along with his three 16-year-old passengers—Daniel Fiedler, Justine Maggi and Lindsey Botek.

Owen wanted to create a compelling video to show to teens across the Northwest at school assemblies put on by the group, Trauma Nurses Talk Tough. The teens, with their families’ consent, agreed to go on-camera for the first time to share details of what happened.

“This is a great story because it has a happy ending, and many times these crashes don’t,” said Owen. “It’s also great the kids involved told the story because other teenagers will likely be more impacted when they hear it from their peers instead of adults. Hopefully other teens will learn valuable lessons from the choices these kids made and not make the same mistakes.”

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